1.1. The Victorian Period: An I ntroduction The Victorian Period was a time of rapid transformation s and developments in nearly every field : from… [619572]

I.1. THE VICTORIAN PERIOD

1.1. The Victorian Period: An I ntroduction
The Victorian Period was a time of rapid transformation s and developments in nearly
every field : from advances in medical, technological and scientific knowledge to the expansions
of cities and sudden increase of industry that revolutionized life in Britain. The term ‘Victorian’
is related to the reign of Queen Victoria: beginning with her accession to the throne in 1837 , at
only 18 years old, until her regretfully death in 1901. It was the longest monarchy in the British
History until recently, when her incredible period of 63 years and 7 months was surpassed by the
present Queen Elizabeth II , who celebrated 65 years on the throne in 2017 .
The beginning of Queen V ictoria ’s reign was remembered mainly because of the social
turmoil caused by the industrial revolution, the natural consequence which brought an enormous
urbanization. England transforme d its appearance comp letely during a couple of years; numerous
factor ies rose and more employments were required. It was a period of consolidation and
progress for the British Empire because economy and industry flourished, as well as art and
culture. It is considered one of the most popular eras in cultural aspects, since the time brought
radical and influential changes in literature, fashion and architecture. Literary works created
during the Victorian Era are considered a high point in the World Lite rature due to the presence
of significant writers, which include Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Bront ë sisters , etc.
Although i t was an age of stability, progress and social reforms for the upper and middle
classes, it was also a downfall for the working c lass because of poverty, injustice and social
instability. They earned enough to stay alive by working labor -intensive trades and could easily
be thrown into poverty by illnesses and other misfortunes. Poverty was not a permanent state but
often a conditio n that working people, or even lower middle -class people had. Howe ver,”most
people understood and accepted the ir place in the class hierarchy ”1 because the division remained
in manners, speech, clothing, education and ethics. From the beginning, s ocial opposites co-
existing meant prosperity and progress with poverty and injustice , ethical conformism with
corruption , morals and philanthropy with money and greediness, which was often known as the

1 MITCHELL, Sally. Dai ly life in Victorian England. 2 nd ed. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2009. ISBN 978 -0-313-
35034 -4

"Victorian Compromise" .2 In the novel A Tale of Two Cities , Charles Dickens summed up
perfectly the situation of the Victorian Age in only one paragraph :
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the
age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the
season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter
of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going
direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other w ay.”3

The contradictions of the age were complex and included the best and the worst of human
achievements from back then. The Victorians morals, beliefs and values were not reflected in the
reality of the past society. The contrasts meant that many reformers struggle d to gradually
improve and change education and health conditions for the working and lower classes . They
were in favor of an education al system which w ould create enlightened people, conscious of their
useful role in the competitive soci ety, as well as decent conditions of labor As Sally Mitchell
stated in her book, Daily Life in Victorian England , people on the average lived longer and were
in better physical condition than they had been in 1837, although at the end of the century, publi c
health investigations still found much to criticize .4
1.2. Victorian Literature during the Nineteenth C entury
The Victorian literature reflects the intellectual patterns of the Victorian age, dealing with
the social problems , industrialism and historical ideals . The nineteenth century novel is importa nt
because it speaks of an a ge that witnessed great change and became a very significant source for
historical information. Therefore, the Victorian literature offers a lot of social circumstances
related to power, the conflict between classes as we ll as the women's rights.
Women novelists started to portray what was going on during that period. At the beginning,
they faced a great difficulty, not only because of the topics they chose , but the Victo rians and
their world could not help the notion of female novelists. The male dominance was present even
in the field of literature and i n order to publish their work, female novelists had to find a male
pseudonym , as it was the case for the Bront ë sisters and George Elliott . In order to be free as men
in the Victorian era, women had to avoid and to rebel against soci ety’s conventions and the rules.
Therefore, l iterature was an excellent opportunity to represent their injustices during the
Victorian period . The writings can be perceived as an insight during the daily life of Victorians
by reflecting their inner feelings and external conditions in the most realistic way.

2 http://amicicg.altervista.org/sharky/victorianage.html
3 Dickens, Charles . A Tale of Two Cities. Ed. Andrew Sanders. Oxford: Oxford University Press , 1988.
4 MITCHELL, Sally. Daily life in Victorian England. 2nd ed. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2009

Apart from that, literature was created for the entertainment.
1.3. The Role of Women – Unequal Partners
In the nineteenth century, women lived in an age characterized by gender inequality . They
had hardly any social rights since they were seen as inferior to men , becom ing obedient and
passive in the society . A woman’s rol e, mainly, was to take care of the house and give birth to
children . Women expected to remain submissive to their father or husbands. The ideal wife for
the Victorian moralists was the one who was their husband’s property.
Queen Victoria’s loyalty to her husband and commit ment to her family made her the icon of 19th
century middle class femininity and domesticity. Britain was under Queen Victoria’s regime
English society failed to reckon this ironical fact. Woman had the power to rule yet she was
servile to the male will.

depriving them from freedom and self esteem.
freedom and self esteem Literature was not an exception and w omen felt that they were totally
oppressed by not given the same education that men got.
The mentality of the society makes one a man or a woman. When a man is born, the society
gives priority to him over woman. This masculine perception is delivered from society to both
men and women. Even women accept this social perception since childhood.
the differences between males and females are create d by the society in which

Madness in Victorian era was called a female malady women who defied the domestic
ideal of woman were diagnosed as mad and unnatural. Their writing suggests an intimate
appeal to those who labored and suffered in the household. Recent post colonial readings
show Bertha Mason as a subaltern since her subjectivity and victimization escapes the
reader because Bronte’s focus is to glorify Jane Eyre. Lady Audley suffers like Bertha;
home to these women could be an ironic manifestation of ins anity. Lady Audley sets fire to
ward of Robert and Bertha sets fire to destroy Rochester suggesting the transgressive modes
undertaken to complicate the lives of sane men.